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| Ballantine's Master Blender Sandy Hyslop speaks to the press during a launching event for the 40 Years Old Masterclass Collection in Seoul, on Monday. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea |
By Kim Jae-heun
Ballantine's, the world's No. 2 Scotch whisky brand, unveiled a new collection of premium liquors serving as a tribute to past and present master blenders.
The 40 Years Old Masterclass Collection series kicks off the release over five years of five exceptional expressions of Ballantine's whisky, the company said Monday.
The collection celebrates the five essential skills that Jack Goudy, master blender between 1959 and 1994, passed on to his apprentice Sandy Hyslop, now a world-renowned master blender himself.
The first release in the collection, launched this year to mark Hyslop's 40th anniversary in the industry, is named "The Remembering." The blend is both complex and harmonious, with a carefully crafted influence from whisky of the now-closed Dumbarton Distillery, where Hyslop first learned from Goudy in his journey to becoming a master blender.
The Remembering is a balanced whisky, rich and complex, and bursting with flavors of spiced red apple and notes of warming clove spice and lavish toffee.
"This is an incredibly special and poignant collection to work on, as I was taken back to my early days spent in the warehouse with Jack. The fact that Jack nosed these whiskies holds special significance, and this first chapter is a tribute to the distinctive character of Ballantine's and the guidance and inspiration on which I've built my own skills," Hyslop said. "The art of whisky crafting is fascinating, with many rules written long ago. The lessons I learnt from Jack are repeated to my own team now, and they'll continue to be passed on in years to come."?
The Remembering is presented in individually numbered bottles, with a design reflecting the exceptional rarity of this 40-year-old blend, decorated by hand and infilled with gold.
The launch of The Remembering also celebrates Ballantine's first NFT release in partnership with BlockBar.com, a global marketplace selling wine and spirits authenticated via blockchain directly from luxury brands. Exclusive to BlockBar, 24 of the 108 physical bottles are engraved with "The Remembering" and "1st NFT Release."
Only 108 bottles of The Remembering will be made available for purchase globally this month at specialist retailers and on BlockBar.com. Among them, six bottles are in Korea.
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